WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is nearing the halfway point in its goal to admit 12,000 Iraqi refugees by the end of September, the State Department said Saturday amid a flurry of activity on the issue.

Several senators called Friday for the appointment of a White House coordinator for Iraqi refugees and said the administration had not done enough to help those who have fled Iraq. The next day, the department said it was on track to meet the 12,000 target.

The department normally releases refugee admission statistics on a monthly basis. But on Saturday, the department said that more than 1,000 Iraqis had been admitted to the United States in the first half of June.

The half-month figure for June is close to the 1,141 admitted for all of May, which was a record. May’s admissions brought to 4,742 the number of Iraqi refugees accepted since the current budget year began Oct. 1. With the latest report, that total is closing in on 6,000.

The 12,000 target is still far lower than the number admitted by other countries and only a small slice of the some 2 million Iraqis who have fled to neighboring countries since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. The Associated Press

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Police who find suspected drugs during a traffic stop or an arrest usually pause to perform a simple task: They place some of the material in a vial filled with liquid. If the liquid turns a certain color, it’s supposed to confirm the presence of cocaine, heroin or other narcotics.